Divisible carton



Dec. 25, 1951 A, B, THOMAS 2,580,333

DIVISIBLE CARTON Filed May 28, 1949 INVENTOR.

ALLEN B THMS BY d6 '6" /4 A u mmm Patented Dec. 25, 1951 nlvrsru: CARTON Allen B. Thomas, Rochester, N. Y. Application May 2s, 1949,'ser1a1 No. 93,963

4 Claims. (Cl. 229-15) The present invention relates to shipping containers or cartons and particularly to containers or cartons for transporting bottled goods, such as bottled beer. A

Bottled beer at the'present time is shipped to a large extent in carboard cartons which are adapted' to contain a dozen bottles of beer. Frequently a customer will come into a grocery or a supply store who only wants half a dozen bottles of beer. Heretofore. the dealer or groceryman has had either to refuse to make the sale, or to cut thev carton open, take out of it the required number of bottles, and put these bottles in a bag or some other form of container so that they can be carried away by the customer. moval of the bottles from the carton, and putting them in some other form of container involves time, is inconfenient, is costly, and involves danger of breakage and loss.

It has been proposed to score cartons for transporting beer bottles so that thecartons may readily be cut in two so that half a dozen bottles of beer can more readily be made available for sale to a customer. These half cartons can be used as receptacles in which to carry the half dozen bottles away, but the half carton is somewhat awkward to handle and provides no protection against the bottles dropping out of it.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide an original container which is so scored that it may readily be separated into two Y independent containers, eachforming a suitable receptacle for carrying the bottles or other articles that are contained therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide a divisible carton which may be separated into two sections and in which the two sections have partition members along their original joining parts which prevent the bottles or other articles, which are shipped inthe containers, from falling out of the two parts of the carton after these parts are severed from one another.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a carton of the' character described having partition members in the adjoining portions of the two parts of the carton which are in the form of straps and which may serve as handles for carrying the separated parts of the carton.

Another object of the invention is to provide a carton of the character described, in which the straps serve not only as handles for carrying the parts of the carton, after severance, but also as dividers or retainers for the contents of 'I'he breaking open of the carton, re-

2 each half of the carton, both prior and subsequent to division of the carton.

A further object of the invention is to provide a carton which has a folding, collapsible, inter nested, cardboard separator for holding the bottles or other articles and preventing them from rattling around in the carton during shipment, and which is provided with strap members that serve as partitions in the original, whole carton and as carrying members for the severed parts` of the carton, and which may be internested with the collapsible, folding separator in such wise as to permit easier insertion of the sepa- I a carton having strap members of the character described in which each s trap tends to wrap itself around the bottles when being used to carry a part of a carton in such wise as to relieve some of the pressure from the staples or other fastening means by which the strap is attached to the carton.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a carton of the character described straps,

which serve not only as partitions and handles, by which to carry the halves of the cartons, but also as liners for strengthening the cartons.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a carton for bottled goods, which may be separated to provide a plurality of containers, each containing part only of the number of bottles held in the original carton, and which have strap members forv carrying the severed parts of the carton that are attached to each part in'such Wise that thebottles lie horizontally in that part and do not show above the confines of the container formed by the severed part of the carton.

Other obects of the invention will be apparent hereinafter from the specicatlon and from the recital of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective view of`a carton made according to one embodiment of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the divided carton, the two halves being shown separated from one another, and the outside 'of one half being broken away to show the inatadas:

Fig. is a view showing the separator folded, v

that is, collapsed, and showing how the strap members internest with this separator in folded position: and

Fig. 6 is a view ona reducedscale showing half of a carton with bottles thereinand showing how the strap-partition member may be employed as a handle for carrying the receptacle formed from half a carton.

The drawings show a divisible shipping carton C made of ilber or corrugated board and folded to have side walls I0 and end walls II. The side walls I 0 are bent to have upper and lower closure flaps I2. The end walls I l are similarly bent to have closure aps Il along their upper and lower margins. The side wall flaps I2 are adapted to meet, when the box is closed, along the longi" tudinal center line of the carton; and the end wall flaps I I terminate short of the transverse center line of the carton. The side wall flaps I2 are adapted to be folded upon and be secured flatwise by adhesive, or in any other suitable manner. to the end wall flaps I4 according to conventional practice.

To prevent the bottles or other articles, which are transported therein, from rattling around in the carton and to keep them separated from one another and from bumping one another, an internesting, foldable separator S is adapted to be inserted in the carton. This separator may comprise the two longitudinally extending partition members I5 and two transversely extending partition members IB. The longitudinally extending partition members are slotted from the bottom upwardly for part of their height as denoted at II and the transversely extending partition members I6 are slotted from the top downwardly, as denoted at I 8, in conventional fashion so that the longitudinal and transverse members will internest with one another.

Separators used in cartons made according to this invention differ, however, from conventional separators in that instead of having a third transverse partition member between the two transverse kpartition members I6 shown in the drawings, the longitudinal partition members I5 are provided withcentrally disposed downwardly extending slots I9. These slots are adapted to receive two contiguous straps 2d.

The straps 2li are made of cardboard in the embodiment of the invention shown. These straps 2l) are folded to have transverse portions 2I which extend parallel to the transverse partition members I6, side portions 22. and end portions 23. The end portions 23 extend approximately half way across the width of the carton. The end portions may be connected together by pieces o f adhesive tape 24 vor may be left free. Each strap member 20 thus encloses and surrounds half of the internesting separator.

In the embodiment of the invention shown, the

end portions 23 of the straps are stapled to the ends II loi the carton by staples 25. The side portions 22 of the strap member might, however, be stapled to the side I0 of the carton if desired. The slots I 9 in the partition members I3 are preferably made deep enoughto extend below the tops of the slots I1 in those partition members. This locates the straps 2l! nearer to the center of gravity of the carton when iilled with bottles. It also leaves only a small portion of each partition member I5 to be torn when the carton is severed in two.

The carton constructed according to the present invention can be shipped in knockdown flat form, according to conventional practice, from the carton factory to the glass factory, at which the bottles are made. The internesting of the strap members 20 with the separator S permits the separator with the internested strap members to be shipped in knockdown form also, as shown in Fig. 5. At the glass factory, the carton is opened up; and the underside or bottom flaps are lapped over one another and sealed together. The separator with the straps 20 is opened up and inserted in the opened carton. The straps center the separator and make for easy quick insertion of the separator intol the carton in the correct position. The opened separator also centers the straps for stapling to the ends of the carton. The bottles are then placed in the twelve pockets provided by the separator and straps. The top flaps of the carton are then temporarily fastened down; and the carton with the empty bottles therein is then shipped to the brewery. There the bottles are filled. Then the carton with its load of filled bottles is shipped to the dealer. 4

The carton is preferably scored or perforated midway of its length along a line such as indicated at 30 in Fig. 1. If a customer comes in and wants only a half dozen bottles of beer, the dealer can quickly sever the carton in two by passing a knife along the line 30 which lies in the plane of abutment of the transverse portions 2I of straps 20. The partition members I5 are sufficiently weakened by the slots I9 to be broken apart easily when the carton is severed, but ii desired they might also be scored in prolongation of the slots I9. The straps 20 hold the bot-` tles in the two severed halves of the carton. Each half of the carton contains half a dozen bottles; and the customer can easily transport the halfcontainer by grasping strap 2n attached thereto as shown in Fig. 6, the strap acting as a handle.

It is to be noted that in transportation the bottles lie horizontal. So feras known to me, this is the first bottle carrier in which the bottles are carried in horizontal position. It is further to be noted that the bottles do not protrude beyond the container but lie wholly therein. This is an advantage, particularly with women customers, because they are ordinarily averse to beving seen transporting beer bottles. l

If the strap members 20 are stapled alt their end portions to the ends of the carton, then each strap/ tends to wrap itselfi` around the bottles in the half-carton when the half carton is lifted, as shown in Fig. 6, thereby taking some of the pressure off of the staples.

The strap members act not only as partitions and carrying handles, butalso as liners strengthenlng the carton, as will be clear from Figs. 3 and 4.

The straps 20 may be made of various materials. They can be made of cardboard, as described, or of cloth, leather, plastic, etc. They may also be made of wire with their ends bent, for instance, and passed through the sides of the container and then fastened. Moreover,

' they can be fastened to the carton halves in nection with cartons for transporting beer bottles. it will be understood that it is not limited to this use. It may be employed in cartons for transporting other bottled goods such as soft drinks, bluing, etc. It may also be employed in the transportation of canned goods. In fact, it may be employed wherever it is vdesirable to provide a carton which is divisible to permit sale of part of the contents of the'carton.

While the invention has been described, therefore, in connection with a particular embodiment thereof and a particular use therefor, it will be understood that it is capable of various modifications and uses, and this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, infgeneral, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains and as may-be applied tothe essential features hereinbefore set forth and as fall within the scope of the invention or the limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A shipping container comprising a closed body including top, bottom, and four side walls, a compartmented ller comprising internested longitudinal and transverse partition members, and a pair of straps that abut against one another in a plane transverse of thev body and that are secured to the side walls but arefree oi' the filler, said straps being of less height than the side walls, said container and longitudinal partition members of the ller being divisible in the transverse abutting plane of the straps, said straps serving as partition members in the whole container and as handles with which to carry the halves of the container when separated.

2. A shipping container comprising a closed body including top, bottom, and four side walls, a compartmented ller comprising internested longitudinal and transverse partition members, and a pair of straps that are secured to the side walls but are free of the filler, said straps having portions that extend transversely of the container between opposed side, walls thereof and t into slots in the longitudinal partition members of the ller, said container and longitudinal partition members being divisible in a plane between opposed portions of the straps, said straps being of less height than said opposed side walls of the container andserving as partition members in the whole container and as handles with 6 5 tending portions of the straps, said straps being which to carry the halves of the container when separated. f

3. A shipping container comprising a. closed body including top, bottom. and side, and end walls, compartmented filler comprising internested longitudinal and transverse partition members, and a pair of straps that have portions which extend transversely of the container between opposed side walls thereof, each of said straps having other parallel side portions'extending along contiguous to said opposed side walls of the container, each of said straps having other portions at the ends of said side portions which extend toward each other and are conti'guous to an end wall of the container and are vfastened to said end wall. said container being divisible in a plane between the transversely exof less height than said opposed side walls and serving as partition members in the whole container and as handles with which to carry the halves of the container when separated. i

4. A shipping container comprising a closed for the articles which are to be shipped in said container, said container being divisible in a plane between the transversely extending portions of the straps. and said straps being of less height than the side walls of the container and serving as handles with which to carry the halves of the container when separated.

ALLEN B. THOMAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in thel le of this patent:

UNITED STATES `PATENTS` Number Name Date 1,328,524 Knapp Jan. 20, 1920 2,287,729 Fallert June 23, 1942 2,290,971 King July-28, 1942 2,448,795 Grecco -------s-..-.. Sept. 7, 1948 

